The Delaware Department of Education has secured a $100,000
grantto
develop
a detailed career readiness action plan, which is an essential step to
expanding economic opportunity for young people across the First State.

“Delaware
has made tremendous progress in aligning our education and workforce
development systems through Governor Jack Markell’s Delaware Pathways
initiative,” Secretary of Education Steven Godowsky said. “We are thrilled that
these funds will further create opportunities for students to earn
industry-recognized credentials and early college credits to accelerate their
career goals.”

Delaware
is among 24 states and the District of Columbia that secured grants for this
work through phase one of New
Skills for Youth grant opportunity. The grants are one piece of a
$75 million, five-year initiative developed by JPMorgan Chase, in
partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Advance
CTE, aimed at increasing economic opportunity for young people by strengthening
career-focused education, starting in high school and ending with postsecondary
degrees or credentials aligned with business needs.

Today,
too few young people are receiving the education or training in high school and
beyond that would put them on a track to qualify for these careers. By the age
of 25, only about half of young Americans have a meaningful postsecondary
credential that enables them to compete for good jobs, and the U.S. youth
unemployment rate is more than double the national rate.

In
Delaware, the 2014 youth (age 20-24) unemployment rate for men was 15.8
percent. For women, it was 8.8 percent. This is compared to 5.8 percent for all
other age demographics. For men and women of color, the youth unemployment rate
was even higher at 18 percent for African American and 11.1 percent for
Hispanic youth.

Through
phase one of New Skills for Youth, Delaware and other selected states will each
receive a $100,000 six-month grant, in addition to expert technical assistance
and peer support from other grantees, to perform a diagnostic assessment of
their career preparation system and prepare for implementation of a new action
plan.

Through
Governor Markell’s Delaware Pathways initiative, Delaware has revamped career
and technical education (CTE) to ensure youth have the opportunity to earn
industry-recognized credentials and early college credit to accelerate their
career goals. And, these opportunities are expanding quickly. By the 2016-17
school year, more than 5,000 students in 29 of 44 public high schools will be
enrolled in state-model pathway programs aligned to areas of high demand in
Delaware’s economy. These programs include: finance, allied health, culinary
and hospitality management, CISCO networking, computer science, manufacturing
logistics and production, manufacturing/engineering technology, biomedical
science, and engineering.

“This
grant is a testament to Delaware’s focus on preparing our students to leave
high school college and career ready and well positioned to compete for the
in-demand jobs driven by today’s global economy,” Governor Markell said.
“We’ll put it to good use to help ensure that we meet our commitment to the Delaware Promise that we announced
last year, that by 2025, the percentage of Delawareans with a college degree or
professional certificate will match the percentage of our jobs that will
require one – 65 percent.”

States
across the country are adjusting their career readiness programs to ensure they
adequately prepare students for their next step after graduation, said Chris
Minnich, executive director of CCSSO. “States have seized this grant
opportunity to pursue bold plans for pathways that will put kids on a course
for success after high school and beyond.”

Chauncy
Lennon, head of Workforce Initiatives, JPMorgan Chase, said, “We must address
the youth career crisis, and it starts in our schools.
These grants kick start an effort to ensure career and technical
education systems are better aligned with the needs of business and leaders
throughout states are committed to tackling youth employment.”

An
independent advisory committee recommended phase one grant recipients after a
rigorous review process that considered states’ proposed plans, cross-sector
partnerships, and demonstrated commitment and capacity to transform their systems
of career preparation according to the grant guidelines. In the judgment
of the advisory committee, the selected states showed promise in their career
readiness plans and indicated strongly that this work is a priority for them.

Delaware,
and the other phase one planning grant states, will be eligible to apply for
the phase two grant opportunity, which will require states to demonstrate the
commitment and capacity to execute the action plans developed in phase one.

This grant opportunity builds on CCSSO's Career
Readiness Initiative, launched in 2015 to help close the skills gap in this
country. The goal is to ensure that students are not only college-ready, but that
all children also graduate from high school prepared for careers.

CCSSO’s
work has been guided by the recommendations made in Opportunities
and Options, a report of CCSSO’s Career Readiness Task Force.

The report encourages
states to make high school programs more responsive to the labor market by
enlisting the employer community as a lead partner; significantly raise the
threshold for quality career pathways in secondary schools; and make career
preparation matter to schools and students, in part by expanding accountability
systems to emphasize career readiness.